Going along to a yoga class seems like a cool thing to do, but don’t you get disappointed by the lack of attention when you get there? Or, the pace is too fast and you almost get too much attention, as you stick out like a sore thumb. Unless your financial wellness is so strong that you can afford a private instructor, you need a way to experience yoga’s benefits to your wellbeing without the competition that comes with packed classes. Luckily, there is one: Mysore self-practice.
Fitness expert Geraldine Beirne explains, ‘Ashtanga vinyasa is one of the best-known styles of yoga and has been embraced by millions of westerners seeking a toned body and a calm mind. But the popular “led primary” classes – where teachers call out the postures of a dynamic set sequence – can be intimidating. And all too often, classes can be packed, with students having no chance of their poor alignment being corrected. But there is an alternative. Mysore self-practice is the traditional way of practising ashtanga yoga and offers a highly personalised approach without the price tag attached to one-to-ones, and with all of the group energy of a conventional class. Here, you will be addressed by name, the teacher will know your practice inside out, and best of all, for me at least, this “class” is quiet – there’s very little talking and no new age music.’
According to Beirne, ‘Most yoga studios carry mysore sessions on their timetables, but many people are put off either because they don’t know what it is or they don’t fancy the idea of a three-hour class that starts at 6.30am. In fact, you can drop into a mysore session at any time and stay for as long as you wish. For beginners, this could be half an hour, and for the more advanced up to an hour and 45 minutes. It is a wonderful way for beginners and advanced practitioners alike to develop a self-practice that you can then take anywhere…Teachers do not lead the students through the sequence with generalised instructions or demonstrations. Instead, experienced students turn up and get on with it. Complete beginners are taught the sun salutations and then the first few postures of the standing sequence. When they have learnt this, the teacher adds a new posture when he or she feels you have memorised the sequence so far and you are competent (in so far as you can ever be competent) in it. And if you forget, the teacher is there to help you.’
But why is that a better way to do ashtanga yoga? ‘Practising in this way gives you the space to focus,’ Beirne notes. ‘The cue to move on to the next posture comes from your own breath, instead of a teacher’s instructions. Students can therefore spend a little longer working at their own pace on something they find challenging. In effect, you become your own teacher. If there is something you are unable to do, the teacher will give you an easier version…Everyone is working at their own pace, so it might appear – to a novice – that everyone is doing something different. This, arguably, might cut down on the element of competition and comparing which can creep into any form of group exercise. Little verbal instruction is given, and when it is given, it is whispered, for the benefit of the one person it is intended for…Students are required to face distractions and the wandering mind in order to come back to a focused state, instead of passively listening to a teacher or watching others.’
